Mike Detillier: Watch out for ‘The Gator’ in Saints secondary

By Mike DetillierSports Correspondent

Saturday

May 11, 2019 at 6:31 PMMay 11, 2019 at 6:31 PM

This week I was going through some papers given to me by former WWL Radio 870-AM sports host Buddy Diliberto, who covered the New Orleans Saints from the start of the franchise until his death in early 2005.

Diliberto, who was then the sports anchor for ABC television in New Orleans, interviewed Saints second-year head coach Tom Fears about third-round pick wide receiver Dave Szymakowski from West Texas State.

Szymakowski, who was the 59th overall pick in the 1968 draft, was considered one of the fastest – if not the fastest player – in the draft class of 1968. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound end caught 102 passes in college, averaged 15.3 yards per catch and scored 12 touchdowns.

Saints scouts raved to Fears about his speed and his ability to make big plays similar to what the Dallas Cowboys had in former Olympic sprinter turned All-Pro wide receiver in Bob Hayes.

But early on, Diliberto caught the "code" being used by Fears to describe the West Texas State end while interviewing the Saints head coach.

"Dave is still learning how to play wide receiver in the NFL," Fears said. "It’s just a week, but we see he certainly has great speed. What we need to work with him on is his route running skills, his ability to put moves on defensive backs to get open and to catch the ball with his hands better. It’s a learning curve for Szymakowski and all the other rookies. And it’s a much more physical brand of football than in college. But he’s real fast and that part is evident out on the practice field."

Those comments came from one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play the game and Fears is in Pro Football’s Hall of Fame.

Once the interview ended, Fears told Diliberto, "Szymakowski is another waste of an early-round pick for us. I don’t get what the scouts saw in him other than he’s fast. He can’t catch the ball at all. He couldn’t catch a tray of ice if his hands were on fire. We used the 59th overall pick in the draft on a guy that won’t play in this league at all."

That led me to write this article. Coaches use certain code words to describe a player, good and bad, and if you read between the lines you can see what they really think of that particular player and early on in camp.

There seems to be a player just about every year for the New Orleans Saints that you can quickly tell has received the attention of head coach Sean Payton.

Payton and other head coaches rarely rave about rookie players or in college you don’t hear much from coaches about freshmen, but there is always the exception to the rule and it is not about what they say, but how they say it.

It’s real early and only a few practices in, but that honor this year goes to Florida defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

You sometimes have to read between the lines with what coaches tell you, but hearing Payton and the other coaches speak about Gardner-Johnson, it is reminiscent of what we heard back in 2010 about tight end Jimmy Graham, wide receiver Kenny Stills in 2013, wide receiver Michael Thomas back in 2016 and halfback Alvin Kamara in 2017.

It’s real early for a full evaluation, but you can tell they have the physical skills to play this game, but they pick things up fast mentally also.

It is hard to give that early impression on a player along the offensive or defensive line because there is no real hitting going on, but on a skilled player, you can see it quickly.

Gardner-Johnson has the it factor to play in this league and Payton along with defensive backs coach Aaron Glenn raved about his ability to pick up new concepts quickly, his ability to play in man coverage sets, to play cornerback-if needed, free safety, strong safety, in the nickel and also lined up in sets like an outside linebacker.

But the former Gator defensive back has a leg up on others to be versatile because he did play all those spots in college at Florida and last year in particular under Gator defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

During his last season at Florida, he recorded 71 tackles, nine tackles for losses, four interceptions (two of which he brought back for touchdowns) and three sacks.

After spring drills in 2018, Grantham had much to say about Gardner-Johnson.

"Chauncey is real smart, he’s a very tough guy, you can move him around from spot to spot and his play does not diminish," Grantham said. "You can’t teach instincts, hustle to the ball and being aggressive and he has all those traits. He can play man coverage or in zone schemes and he just has a knack for being around the football. He’s a football player, pure and simple and a good one."

That’s almost word for word for what we are hearing from Payton and his position coach Aaron Glenn now that he is with the Saints.

It’s an early impression but hearing Payton talk about Gardner-Johnson is like listening to LSU head coach Ed Orgeron talk about freshmen players in cornerback/return man Derek Stingley and nose guard Siaki "Apu" Ika.

It’s sort of football coded, but you get what they are referring to.

They have players who get what it takes to play at the next level and they mentally have the capacity to translate what is taught in the classroom to the playing field.

GAUNO TO ADAMS STATE

Former Terrebonne High School standout defensive back Trevon Gauno has signed on to play his senior season of college football at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo.

The road has been rocky for the talented defensive back having been to Shasta College in California, Cisco College in Texas, Independence Community College in Kansas, Dodge City Community College in Kansas and last season at Angelo State, but his talents have not been unseen by the pros and he has caught the early attention of scouts for the East-West Shrine Game and also the NFLPA Bowl.

With a coaching change at Angelo State, Gauno decided to play his final year at Adams State and a few weeks back he told me he’s anxious to play another season of college football and showcase his skills as a cover cornerback and also help a team win a championship.

If you can play, the NFL will find you and already they have seen enough of Gauno to garner attention from the NFL scouts.

Gauno’s younger brother, Davontavean "Tay" Martin, is a standout junior wide receiver at Washington State. Martin is a Houma native and former Ellender High School star.

-- NFL analyst Mike Detillier is based in Raceland.

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